Former fast-food employee charged with obstruction

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A former fast-food restaurant employee was charged Monday in connection with a story about an armed robbery that was reported to police.

Donald Taylor Jr., 19, of 904B E. Moler Ave. in Martinsburg, told police that on Dec. 9, a man in a white Chevrolet Cavalier ordered food in the Queen Street Wendy's drive-through, then showed a gun and took around $212.

Taylor subsequently told police he turned over the money to a man he knew from a previous encounter, said Detective Sgt. George Swartwood, of the Martinsburg Police Department.

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Police charged Taylor with obstructing police, a misdemeanor.

After the reported 11:40 p.m. robbery, police went to the Wendy's and took a verbal and written statement from Taylor, records show. He described the robber as a black man with slicked-back hair pulled into a ponytail, and a goatee. He said the man's Chevrolet had tinted windows and a "bra" on the front, police said.

Two days later, during a subsequent interview, Taylor told police that he made up the story, records allege. He then told police that on the night of the robbery, he saw a white man in the parking lot, whose first name is Brian, records show.

Taylor told police that Brian walked up to the drive-through window, demanded cash and said he had a gun, records show. Taylor handed over the cash and Brian fled on foot, court records show.

Taylor told police that he did not know Brian's last name.

Since then, Taylor has told police a third story about how the money was taken, which police were still trying to verify, police said. Swartwood declined to elaborate.

On a request form for a public defender, which Taylor filled out Monday, Taylor listed no employer. A manager at the Wendy's said Taylor no longer works at the restaurant.

A conviction on a charge of obstructing police carries a possible fine of $25 to $200 and/or up to five days in jail.

Taylor was released from Eastern Regional Jail Monday after posting $2,500 bail.